Bishkek residents told about the ancestors of Kyrgyz fine art
March 14, 2013, 06:00
Among the audience at the Fine Arts Museum was Ex-President Roza Otunbayeva.
For the second time at the Cinema Hall of the Kyrgyz National Fine Arts Museum, the doors were opened for lovers of domestic painting, drawing and sculpture. Citizens of various ages and professions came to the lecture of culturologist and, well known in the capital, modern art theorist Gamal Bokonbaev. Of course it was not a full house, but everyone listened with interest about the beginning of the formation of a national school of painting, drawing and sculpture in Kyrgyzstan.
Bokonbaev was asked, “How important is it to hold these lectures?”
“We know very little about the fathers of Kyrgyz art. You could say that, in general, we know nothing,” answered Bokonbayev. “But here is a different question: how to talk about this subject in an interesting and popular way. I prepared a small presentation. I tried to ‘dillute’ the theory with illustrations. The lecture highlights the events of the 1930s years, when the national school of fine arts was formed and established. The beginning was successful. In Kyrgyzstan, outstanding masters of their time were active, Semen Afansievich Chuikov, Vladimir Vitalievich Orbaztsov, Laslo Messarosh and many others. Their work served as a guide for the next generation of artists. Their selflessness and talent became a good basis for further development.
“It is encouraging that European art caught on in our country,” the former president of the interim period, Roza Otunbayeva, said. “Thanks to the first artists, in Kyrgyzstan we have a fine arts museum. They contributed to the youth of that time becoming interested in painting and drawing. And now, in the golden collection of the museum, their unique work is stored.”
Museum employees, in turn, noted that the hall where the works of Chuikov, Aitiev and their compatriots are located does not enjoy a great popularity among visitors. But they hope that, thanks to the “Meetings at the Museum” project, which is supported by the “Roza Otunbayeva Initiative” International Foundation, the capital’s residents and guests will become interested in the history of domestic fine art.
The next lecture, dedicated to the works of Gapar Aitiev and Sabyrbek Akylbekov, will take place on March 27th. Speaking about these artists will be art critic and senior instructor of the Kyrgyz-Russian-Slavic University’s department of architecture, design and construction, Aina Moldokhmatova.